Office XP works especially well in the typical well-connected office, making it easy to store and retrieve Office files in a wide variety of locations. You might keep some files on your local hard disk, others on a network file server, and still others on a Web server with Microsoft's SharePoint extensions installed. In an environment this complex, having a well-thought-out storage system is the only way to stay organized. In this article, learn such techniques as how to create new files, use and customize dialog boxes, set up automatic backup and recovery options, and troubleshoot in Microsoft Office XP.

This sample chapter is excerpted from Special Edition Using Microsoft Office XP.

Setting Up Office File Storage Locations

Office XP works especially well in the typical well-connected office, making
it easy to store and retrieve Office files in a wide variety of locations. You
might keep some files on your local hard disk, others on a network file server,
and still others on a Web server with Microsoft's SharePoint extensions
installed. In an environment this complex, having a well-thought-out storage
system is the only way to stay organized.

Choosing a Default Local Storage Location

Three Office versions ago, Microsoft introduced the My Documents folder. The
idea was simple: to create a default location for personal data files, making it
easier for users to find and back up files they create. In practice, however,
the first implementations of this idea were poorly thought out, and most expert
Office users simply ignored the My Documents icon on the desktop—or quickly
figured out how to delete it. Since its first appearance in 1995, the My
Documents folder has evolved into a standard feature of Windows; if you deleted
the My Documents folder supplied by Office, you might have been startled to see
it reappear when you upgraded Windows. Beginning with Windows 98, in fact, and
continuing with Windows ME, 2000, and XP, the My Documents folder has become an
integral part of Windows, and that icon on the Windows desktop and in the My
Computer window is much more useful.

Office XP makes extensive use of the My Documents folder. Advanced users
might cringe at the name, but this system folder is the default starting point
for common Open and Save As dialog boxes in Office applications. It's also
hard-wired to one of the default icons on the Places Bar in those dialog boxes.
If you're willing to reorganize the way you store data files to take
advantage of this location, you can substantially increase the odds that
you'll find files you're looking for when you need them. You can also
change the default location that individual Office programs use for data files;
it's slightly more difficult, but still possible, to redefine the location
of the My Documents folder. (Oh, and if the name bugs you, just change it.)

The exact physical location of the My Documents folder varies, depending on
which Windows version you have installed:

On a system running Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me without user
profiles, the My Documents folder appears in the root of the system drive,
usually C:\My Documents.

On a system running Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me with user
profiles enabled, the My Documents folder appears in the user's local
profile folder, typically C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\My
Documents. (Note that you can override this option by clearing a check
box in the Users dialog box of the Control Panel.)

On a system running Windows NT 4.0 or earlier, the My Documents shortcut
opens the Personal folder in the user's local profile, typically
C:\Winnt\Profiles\<username>\Personal.

On a system running Windows 2000 and XP, the My Documents folder appears
in the Documents and Settings folder, normally C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\My Documents.

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If you use Windows 98 or Windows Me, you can safely (and quickly) eliminate
the My Documents icon from the desktop: Right-click the icon and choose Remove
from Desktop. Because this icon is only a shortcut with a few special
properties, eliminating it does not have any effect on files stored in the
physical folder to which it points. To restore the My Documents icon to the
desktop on a Windows 98 system, right-click any empty space on the desktop and
choose New, My Documents Folder on Desktop. In Windows Me, open the Folder
Options dialog box, click the View tab, and check the Show My Documents on the
Desktop box.

In all 32-bit versions except Windows 95 and NT 4.0, the My Documents icon on
the desktop and in Explorer windows is actually a shell extension—a
virtual folder like the My Computer and Network Neighborhood icons, not an
actual physical location. Opening this shortcut opens the folder that's
registered as the current user's My Documents location. To change the
folder that this icon points to, right-click the My Documents icon, choose
Properties, and enter the folder name in the Target text box.

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Changing the default file location in FrontPage 2002 requires hacking the
Registry. Navigate to the following key:
HEKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\FrontPage and change the value DefaultSave
to the full path of the folder you want to use.

Then, open the following key:

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HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Frontpage\Explorer\FrontPage
Explorer\Settings and change the value for Default\WebName to the same folder
name.

Finally, you can change the default working folder for any individual Office
application (with the exception of FrontPage), although the exact procedure is
slightly different, depending on the program you're working with. Follow
these steps, for example, to adjust the default document folder in Word:

Choose Tools, Options, and click the File Locations tab. The dialog box
shown in Figure 3.1
lets you specify a wide range of system folders.

In the File Types list, select the Documents option.

Click the Modify button; then use the Modify Location dialog box to
browse through drives and folders. Select the correct folder and click
OK.

Click OK to close the Options dialog box and save your change.

Figure 3.1 Use
the Options dialog box to adjust the default working folder for any Office program.

Follow the same basic procedure for Excel, PowerPoint, and Access, with the
following exceptions: In Excel and Access, click the General tab; in PowerPoint,
click the Save tab. In the box labeled Default File Location, enter the full
name and path of the folder that you want to specify as the new default.
Unfortunately, only Word lets you browse through drives and folders to find the
one you want; with all other Office programs, you must enter the full directory
path manually.

The default file location setting for each application is independent. If you
set Word's default Documents folder to a location on the network, for
example, Excel and PowerPoint continue to open to the default My Documents
folder.

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Curiously, several other settings in Word's File Locations dialog box
apply across the board to all Office applications. If you change the location of
the Templates or Workgroup Templates folder in Word, that change applies to
Excel and PowerPoint as well. Specifying the Workgroup Templates folder here is
an ideal way to make sure that individual users always have access to the most
current corporate templates in the three main Office applications. Users can
continue to save and open personal templates in their own folders, but any Word,
Excel, or PowerPoint template in the Workgroup Templates folder will
"automagically" appear in the New dialog box of all three
applications.

Behind the scenes, Office creates and uses one additional standard location,
creating a group of subfolders in the Application Data folder. On a default
Windows 98/Me setup without user profiles, you'll find these files at
C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft. With user profiles enabled, this location
is typically C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\Application
Data\Microsoft or, in Windows 2000/XP, at C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft. Office keeps
separate folders for each application, special-purpose folders for use by all
Office programs, and a folder for Office itself. This location is where Office
stores customization data, such as your Excel Personal macro workbook, any
custom templates that you create in any program (stored in the Templates
folder), custom dictionaries (in the Proof folder), and Word startup templates
(in the \Word\STARTUP folder).

Opening and Saving Files Over a Network

Office XP lets you work with files over a network or on the Web in much the
same way that you access files and folders on a standalone PC. If you are
connected to a network, contact your network administrator to find locations on
the network where you're permitted to read or write files. You should get a
network share address for the location, using UNC syntax
(\\Server_name\Share_Name\). Unless the network administrator has
restricted your rights, you can create and manage your own subfolders in this
location.

Although you can type UNC-style network addresses directly into File Open or
File Save As dialog boxes, doing so is usually more trouble than it's
worth. For easier access, browse to the My Network Places folder (in older
Windows versions, this is the Network Neighborhood) and navigate to the correct
server, share, and folder.

Aside from the additional navigation steps, there is no difference between
using network shares and using local drives, assuming that you have proper
authorization from your network administrator.

Storing Files on the Web or an Intranet

Storing files on the Web—whether to a Web server or to an FTP
server—is almost as simple as working with files on a local network. As
long as you're connected to the Web, you need only the URL for the location
(for example, http://www.mydomain.com/someplace or ftp://microsoft.com/incoming)
and approval from the site operator to read or write to the location. You can
even copy the URL from your favorite Web browser's Address box and paste it
into the File Name box.

To open or save a file to a Web server or an FTP site on the Internet or an
intranet, display the New Document/Worksheet/Presentation task pane and click
Add Network Place (at the bottom of the pane). Follow the steps in the Add Network
Place Wizard to create a shortcut to the location (see
Figure
3.2).

Figure 3.2 The
Add Network Place Wizard lets you set up Internet or intranet locations so that
they work just like regular folders.

You can also reach the Add Network Place Wizard from the My Network Places or
Network Neighborhood icons in any common dialog box.

NOTE

From a technical standpoint, there are almost no differences between
publishing to an intranet Web server and publishing to one on the Internet. The
format of the URL that you use likely will be different—intranet servers
are typically identified with a one-word name (such as http://marketing) rather than a
fully qualified domain name (such as http://www.example.com).
You'll likely encounter different security issues, including
password-protected logins and possibly disk quotas (which limit the amount of
disk space that a user can fill with Web content) on both types of server.

Working with Shared Folders on a SharePoint Server

Some editions of Office XP include an add-on called SharePoint Team Services.
This software is a stripped-down version of a more powerful package called
SharePoint Portal Server. You can install the SharePoint Team Services add-in on
any Windows 2000/XP machine that is also running Internet Information Services.
With a SharePoint server available (usually on an intranet), co-workers can
share and discuss files on a Web server, using an attractive Web-based front
end.

Office XP integrates exceptionally well with SharePoint servers. Depending on
how the SharePoint administrator has configured the network, you can access
SharePoint document libraries directly from Office XP common dialog boxes. Any
document stored on a SharePoint server is available for Web Discussions as well.
Use the My Network Places folder from an Office Open or Save As dialog box to
work directly with a SharePoint shared folder.